My f-i-l has asked me to pick some wines for the Golden Wedding lunch he’s hosting soon. I think it will be about 40-50 people, not sure many will be drinking heavily. Budget is £15/bottle +/-, to accompany steak or plaice.
Here’s my proposed shortlist; they all get good reviews on this site as well as CellarTracker but happy to have any thoughts or further suggestions, especially from those who’ve drunk any of these wines!
I’ve had the First Press Chardonnay. It’s very full on and I’m not sure it would be the best choice unless you were very sure that the guests were particularly keen on that style of wine.
In my opinion, the 2008 Weinert is too young. Probably a couple of years away from really showing its best. I’d probably go with the Minervois for a red. It’s a very good wine for that price.
I don’t like Beaujolais so will rule that out (sorry), but thanks for the white Burg suggestion. You think that’s a better choice than the Vire-Clesse I linked to above?
Thanks everyone for the other guidance too, any more thoughts are very welcome.
I was tempted by Jeunes Vignes (which I also enjoy) but wondered if it was a bit lightweight for the steak. Will add it to the list of suggestions for my f-i-l.
Not necessarily. I would happily drink both however 1 is oaked and 1 is not. Probably where the £4 price difference comes in. In my experience not everyone is a fan of oaked whites so when catering for a crowd I tend to avoid them.
This is a great Muscadet and would work with the Plaice depending on how it’s to be cooked .
Also I like the Pouilly-Fumé would also work if you didn’t fancy going with a Burgundy.
For the red how about this https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/ProductDetail.aspx?pd=MO121
Quite rich but also elegant, works really well with red meat . I’d also second the roilette , just double check there’s not an older vintage available if you do decide to go with it as it’s great with a bit of bottle age .
I would agree about not going for whites with what might be OTT oak for some. I like the Cordier wines, which are more subtly oaked usually. Otherwise the Albarino suggestions are good.
For the red, had you considered something like the WS Crozes Hermitage? I find that CH partners steak quite well.
I had ruled that out as 2016 Crozes seemed likely to need further ageing to show well, is that not the case? Agree that Crozes works well with steak and is good value (probably my most common red to order in a restaurant for that reason).
Or going a bit further south, the Domaine Maby Lirac is very good, and decent value too. Had a bottle last weekend and very reliable. Others on here think so too.
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